Heart of Ice
by Spunky0ne
Summary: When Grimmjow finds a very pregnant Tetsuya Kuchiki in the wreckage of Soul Society, the two begin a search for information that will help in the war, but what will happen when being with Tetsuya reminds Grimmjow of his own terrible loss...yaoi, mpreg...Grimmjow/Tetsuya
1. In the Wreckage

**Heart of Ice**

**Chapter 1: In the Wreckage**

"_This is Kisuke,_" said a male voice on the other end of the phone line.

"It's Grimmjow," said the tall, blue-haired Espada, "I got the supplies to the Kuchiki elders at the evacuation point, and they gave me a token to enter the archive at Kuchiki Manor."

"_Good. I would have gone, myself, but you are really the best one to find what we're looking for._"

"I'm just surprised they would let me in at all," commented Grimmjow, "Aren't they supposed to be the big dogs of the noble families?"

"_They were,_" Kisuke affirmed, "_But the war has pretty much decimated the noble houses. It seems that, to really break the back of the shinigamis, Ywach sent teams to attack the nobles directly. Word came that the Noble's General Council was in session, and that not half of the elders present survived the initial attack. The individual residences barely had time to begin evacuations. A lot of women and children never made it to the evacuation sites. The Furukawa clan, and several other lower noble houses were wiped out completely. Hundreds of them are missing...presumed dead. I'd say that the noble houses are in shambles. And with Byakuya, the strongest of them all, evacuated for healing in the Royal Realm and not even guaranteed to return, things don't look so good for them._"

"Then, we're kinda in the same boat," the Espada concluded.

"_Yeah._"

"All right. I'm almost to the manor. Damn, Kisuke. I thought we had it bad in Hueco Mundo, but I'm telling you there's bodies fucking everywhere around here! I've checked more than a few for signs of life, but so far..."

Grimmjow trailed off, his sharp eyes catching a slight movement in the rubble of a collapsed building.

"Hey, uh, I'll call you back when I get inside the archive, okay?"

"_Is s-?_"

Grimmjow snapped the phone shut and moved forward slowly, picking his way carefully through the debris and honing in on the source of the flicker of movement.

"Hello?" Grimmjow called, "Someone alive in here? Speak up quick. I aint got all day."

"I am h-here!" called a youthful, male voice.

"Okay, I'm coming. Just give me a sec," Grimmjow called back, stepping carefully around a fallen shinigami and making his way forward cautiously.

He bent slightly to avoid a bit of drooping ceiling, and paused to adjust to the lower light inside the devastated structure. He heard rustling and an exclamation of pain as the person he had come to rescue struggled to escape the debris that had pinned him, then realized the futility and reached for a blue hilted sword that laid just beyond his reach.

"Hey, take it easy!" Grimmjow growled, "You want to get out of here in one piece, then you need to calm down and fucking hold still!"

"B-but you are an Arrancar!" the young man objected, lifting his head to look up at Grimmjow, and startling him with a pair of lovely, wide sapphire eyes.

"Huh," huffed the blue-haired Espada, off-handedly, "Shinigami, you've got way worse problems, right now, than my kind. Now, hold still. I don't want this damned place coming down on us."

The young man looked less than pleased, but ceased his struggling. He laid still beneath the broken boards, watching Grimmjow closely.

"You ever seen an Espada close up?" Grimmjow asked, as he began to pull at the tangle of wood.

"No," the young man said softly, "The only hollows I have seen close up were ones that invaded my home, and paid for it with their lives."

"Hmmm," Grimmjow said, smirking, "Well, you don't have to worry about me invading your home and taking anything. Your home's a pile of shit and the dust all over everything's probably toxic too."

"Actually," the young man said, coughing as Grimmjow's movements stirred up the dust, "_my_ house is probably in even worse condition than this one. I only took refuge here, when the area was overrun. I was trying to reach my home."

"Where do you live?"

"Kuchiki Manor," said the man, "I am Tetsuya Kuchiki."

"Ah, a Kuchiki," repeated Grimmjow, "I just met with a group of your elders...delivering a bunch of medical supplies and food to the survivors from their residences."

"Did you hear any news of Byakuya Kuchiki?" Tetsuya asked, his eyes widening, "I felt the decline of his reiatsu, and..."

"Easy," Grimmjow said, pushing Tetsuya down gently, "He got the shit beat outta him, but he was taken to the Royal Realm with Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki for healing."

"Oh," Tetsuya sighed, looking relieved, "that is good. And you say you met with our elders?"

"Yeah," Grimmjow confirmed, "The family properties were trashed, but your clan was pretty lucky. There were twenty or so deaths, all men who led the Sternritters off, while the others escaped to safety."

"I see," Tetsuya said sadly, "I regret I was not there, but...as I was not in condition for fighting..."

"You were already hurt?" Grimmjow asked, "I can heal you as soon as I get you out of here."

"I wasn't hurt before, though I seem to have injured my ankle in the collapse of this building."

"Then..." Grimmjow began, lifting the last of the broken boards away and staring in surprise at the shinigami's slightly, but noticeably rounded belly, "Wh-whoa! What is up with your gut?"

Tetsuya blushed and managed a nervous laugh.

"Ah...I suppose I should explain."

"Are you...a girl?" Grimmjow asked, looking confused, "Because I did think you were kinda pretty for a guy, but your voice..."

"I assure you, I am male," Tetsuya said, frowning, "It is just that there are a rare few among the male noble population who carry traces of ancient royal blood. The original transcendents were androgynous beings, able to procreate with any other transcendent. A rare few of these mated with non-transcendents, producing offspring who are anatomically male, but have within their bodies, a spirit chamber that is capable of collecting genetic material and reiatsu to make a shinigami child."

"Huh," mused the Espada, "So you couldn't fight because you're knocked up?"

"I can use my powers, but it has negative side effects, so I am only able to fight as a last resort."

"Heh, well, this is a last resort kinda situation," Grimmjow said, matter-of-factly, "So, after I fix your leg, you're gonna need to be prepared to take care of yourself. Can you do that?"

"Yes," Tetsuya assured him, "Especially if I can make contact with my counterpart. He was at Kuchiki Manor, helping to defend it."

"Well, then, your pal's probably dead."

"I don't think so," Tetsuya said, shaking his head, "Arashi is special. If he was to die, I would also pass from life within hours. I was trapped in that building all night. Had he died, I would not have been there for you to find."

"Ah. So...this Arashi...he's the kid's father?"

"Eh...actually, no," Tetsuya chuckled, "Arashi is a horse, a black Arabian stallion."

"A horse, huh?" Grimmjow mused, leaning over Tetsuya and examining his injured leg, briefly, "Well, I hope he's around to carry you, because your ankle is pretty badly broken. Even once I've healed it, you won't be able to walk for a while. I guess there's nothing for it, but for me to take you to the encampment, myself."

"But I need to go to the manor! I have to find Arashi and...!"

"Whoa, take it easy, okay?" Grimmjow said, raising his hands defensively, "You wanna go to Kuchiki Manor, I'm going there anyway. I was just thinking to get you somewhere safe where you would be with your relatives. Besides, isn't your...erm...husband looking for you?"

"I don't know," Tetsuya admitted, "He would have gone to the manor to meet Arashi and me. I only wasn't there because I had to be taken to the fourth division for an examination. I was returning when my escort was attacked and overrun. I managed to reach this house, but when the foot soldiers began storming the area and blowing things up, the house was destroyed, and I was trapped. I lost consciousness after that, and only woke as you arrived. But, did you say that you were going to the manor? Why? Erm...?"

"Oh...Grimmjow," the Espada said, removing the token that Kisuke had given him, "Kisuke has been helping us lead the resistance in Hueco Mundo," Grimmjow explained, "He sent me to look in the archive to try to find information related to an old myth about a hollow king. He says that we need that information somehow, to devise a strategy to defeat Ywach's forces in our world."

"Kisuke Urahara is defending Hueco Mundo?" Tetsuya mused, "But then,Ywach is a huge threat to all of us, ne?"

"You got that right."

Grimmjow looked down at Tetsuya's partially healed leg and shook his head.

"That's gonna have to do it, for now. Luckily, your manor isn't far from here."

"And although the main buildings might be gone, we will find anything we will need in the archive," Tetsuya said, accepting Grimmjow's hand and climbing to his feet.

"Here," Grimmjow said, moving in close to him, "Lean on me a little. That should keep the weight off that foot."

The two began walking slowly, with Tetsuya managing a stumbling walk. The Espada studied him for a moment and made a sound of annoyance, then surprised the young man by sweeping him up and carrying him.

"Wh-what are you...?"

"Hey, Hueco Mundo's gonna die of old age if I wait for you to walk to the manor. Hold still."

Tetsuya hesitated for a few moments, then looped his arms around Grimmjow's neck and rested his head wearily on the Arracncar's shoulder. Grimmjow was surprised with a gentle, sweet scent of sakura that seemed to emit from the noble's pale body and long, wavy raven black hair. The pretty sapphire eyes blinked sleepily, bearing a weight of sadness as he spotted bodies of the fallen, littering the pathway.

"So, Hueco Mundo was devastated as well?" Tetsuya asked softly.

"Yeah," Grimmjow said in a low, angry voice, "Squads of the bastards came and took the stronger ones away, then just fucking killed as many of the rest of 'em as they could. Sick bastards..."

He swallowed hard as they came upon a woman and child, weeping at the side of a dead man. They nearly panicked at the sight of the tall Espada, but calmed at seeing Tetsuya in his arms.

"You should get out of here, lady," Grimmjow said gruffly, pulling out a short knife and handing it to her, along with a small ration of food, "Here...to get you to the evacuation center. Go up that road. It isn't far."

"But...!" the woman sobbed, looking down at her husband's collapsed body, "We can't carry him!"

"Grimmjow, will you please let me down?" asked Tetsuya.

The Espada set the noble on his feet, and Tetsuya drew his weapon.

"Touei," he breathed, "Re-kuhime."

He laid a hand on the man's body, then took the hands of the woman and boy in his other hand, and watched quietly as mother, child and body disappeared.

"What did you do?" Grimmjow asked, "Where...?"

"I sent them to the fourth division," explained Tetsuya, "I placed a few waterforms there, in case of emergencies."

"Huh...I don't suppose you can transport us to Kuchiki Manor?"

Tetsuya shook his head gently.

"The waterforms I placed there have been destroyed. I can only transport people and things to where I have placed the waterforms. The fact that they are gone is not a good sign. And that I cannot sense Arashi worries me, even more."

"Well, there's no use worrying," Grimmjow said gruffly, lifting the younger man off his feet again, "We'll be there soon and find out the state of things."

The two went quiet again, Tetsuya resting his head against the tall Espada's shoulder, and Grimmjow observing the pregnant noble out of the corner of one, ice blue eye. They passed more collapsed buildings and scores of bloodied corpses dotting the road. Tetsuya closed his eyes against the sight, shivering in Grimmjow's arms.

"You're not used to this, huh? Seeing so much death and dying around you?"

Tetsuya's eyes met his briefly, and he nodded.

"I am head of manor security, and Lord Byakuya's bodyguard. But challenges to our home have been few, and not serious...not even during Aizen's offensive. What makes it worse is that I know some of these people. It is heartbreaking how murderous these quincies are. They call it revenge for the shinigamis trying to exterminate them. But the ones who committed that crime upon them are mostly dead and gone. The ones here have little understanding of what transpired before. It is all such pointless violence. I do not understand that at all."

"I think it sucks too," Grimmjow agreed, "And what they did in Hueco Mundo to the hollows, who never did anything to them is a fucking disgrace. There was no reason to harm us. We had nothing to do with what happened a thousand years ago. I don't get why he involved us."

"I don't know either," Tetsuya said softly, his breath catching and releasing in a distressed sob as they came upon a collapsed stallion and a slain shinigami.

"Shiro!" Tetsuya cried, breaking free of Grimmjow's hold and breaking into a run. His injured ankle buckled, and he crashed to the ground at the dead man's side, "Shiro, no!"

Grimmjow took a steadying breath and swallowed hard, watching as Tetsuya tried in vain to revive the man. He waited until well beyond a reasonable time, then moved to the devastated noble's side and touched him gently on the shoulder.

"He's gone," the Espada said quietly, but matter-of-factly, "But that's your horse, right? He's breathing."

"B-but Shiro!" Tetsuya sobbed.

"You should use your waterforms to evacuate those two and yourself to the fourth division, like you did that lady and her husband and kid."

Tetsuya's head bowed briefly, and he leaned forward and kissed his husband gently on the forehead. He drew his sword and invoked his power, then sent Shiro's body to the healing center.

"What about you and the horse?" Grimmjow asked, frowning, "I sure as hell can't carry both of you!"

"I can heal Arashi," Tetsuya explained, "He is not badly hurt. And we owe you for helping us, when you have pressing things to do. So, Arashi will carry us to Kuchiki Manor, and I will assist you in finding what you need within the family archive. You _would_ benefit from having the help of one who knows the archive well."

"Yeah," Grimmjow agreed, watching as Tetsuya rubbed the tears away from his eyes and moved to the stallion's side.

He laid his hands on the stallion and raised a green field of healing energy around him.

"Hey, shouldn't I do that?" Grimmjow asked, "What, with you being knocked up and all..."

"I can manage," Tetsuya said quietly, "I can restore his energy quickly, because of our close bond."

Within a few minutes, the stallion stirred under Tetsuya's hands. Then, he snorted and surged to his feet, taking a few staggering steps, then settling. He turned his head and sniffed briefly at Grimmjow, before blowing a soft huff of breath at him and tossing his head. His eyes blinked and reflected a lovely sapphire, like his shinigami master's.

Tetsuya accepted Grimmjow's hand and climbed to his feet, then flash stepped onto the stallion's back. He reached out a hand to the Sexta Espada and pulled Grimmjow up behind him. Grimmjow's arms wrapped around Tetsuya's rounded belly, and the noble touched Arashi's sides with his heels. The stallion surged forward, making Grimmjow's arms tighten around Tetsuya.

"Hey, take it easy, smartass!" Grimmjow snapped at the horse, "I'll make you into my next meal if you piss me off!"

Arashi snorted derisively and quickened his pace.

"Pain in the ass," Grimmjow muttered.

"You have no idea," Tetsuya chuckled under his breath.

He turned his head slightly to meet Grimmjow's eyes.

"Grimmjow, thank you for coming to my aid," he said, more softly.

"Forget about it." the Espada said, off-handedly.

He saw again, the sad image in his mind of Tetsuya crying over his lost lover, and a memory of his own threatened. He swallowed hard and shoved the thought away.

"I'm sorry about your husband."

"Thank you," Tetsuya whispered, "I must focus now on keeping this baby alive. He is all I have left of Shiro, and he is heir to the Aomori clan, so needs to be protected."

"Well," said Grimmjow, "You're safe enough with me. But once I get what I came for, I'm gonna have to turn you over to your kin."

"I understand," said Tetsuya, "I appreciate what help you are able to offer us."


	2. Heart Connection

**Chapter 2: Heart Connection**

Tetsuya stiffened under Grimmjow's hands as Arashi closed in on Kuchiki Manor, and the stark, blackened ruins of the main building appeared. The front gates had been shattered, and the cobbled entry cracked and broken. The wooden walkway was a tumble of still smoldering timbers, and the living areas and kitchen were no longer recognizable. Tears came to Tetsuya's eyes and began to escape onto his face as they reached the razed gardens, to find the carefully tended flowers and shrubs torn and trampled, and the lovely sakura trees uprooted and mostly burned. Dead koi littered the destroyed ponds and the scents of brimstone and ash hung in the air.

"Shit..." Grimmjow breathed, "What a mess."

"Kuchiki gardens was one of the most beautiful places in our world," Tetsuya said softly, "Every tree, every flower and bush, every cobblestone and every blade of grass is set in place whenever a new leader is chosen. Lord Byakuya first made these gardens over in the way he chose, when he came of age to officially accept leadership from his grandfather, who had designed the gardens before him. To have witnessed both its beginning and now its end is..."

"Don't look at it like that," Grimmjow said, in a suddenly more aggressive tone, "Byakuya's being healed, right? So, he can restore the gardens when he comes back here."

Tetsuya looked ready to argue, but noted Grimmjow's hard expression and cleared his throat gently, wiping the tears from his eyes. He took a steadying breath and gazed back at the Sexta Espada quietly.

"That's better," Grimmjow growled, "You want to survive, then you have to have the right thinking. You let yourself think too much about the pain and..."

He broke off suddenly, remembering...

_"M-master Nnoitora?" whispered a shaky male voice._

_Grimmjow tightened the binding around the badly wounded Fraccion's wounds._

_"Nnoitora's dead," Grimmjow told him._

_"Th-that shingami...that barbarian?"_

_"Yeah," Grimmjow acknowledged softly, "He killed him. You'll be all right, though."_

_The injured hollow looked down at his healing body, then up at Grimmjow again._

_"Why?" he asked "Why are you healing me? M-master Nnoitora tried to kill you. I am his...was...his fraccion. Do you not want to kill me?"_

_"Naw," Grimmjow said in a low voice, "I lost my fraccion and you lost your leader. I think maybe you and me should stick together...ne, Tesla?"_

_Tears ran freely down the forlorn fraccion's pale cheeks, but he stiffened his lips and nodded._

_"I am...yours to command, from now on," he half-sobbed, "Thank you for healing me, Master Grimmjow."_

_But even as the days and weeks had passed, the weight of loss had grown on the younger man, gnawing away at him, until his mind became frayed, and his body began to decline. Grimmjow forcibly stopped his mind from replaying the end._

"You gave up," he whispered, "You just couldn't take it...couldn't accept it, even though I tried to be there for you..."

"Grimmjow, are you all right?" Tetsuya asked, squeezing the Espada's hand gently.

For a moment, Tetsuya's face was written over in the image of the mourning Tesla's. Grimmjow blinked, forcing down the hard, biting emotions that it caused inside him.

"I'm fine," he said tersely, "Where's the archive? Is it even still here?"

Tetsuya nodded and indicated a set of ruins to their left. Grimmjow slid down off Arashi's back, then offered a hand to Tetsuya, who froze for a moment, before quietly accepting.

"What's wrong," Grimmjow asked, smirking, "Still think all hollows are out to eat you?"

"It is odd how our preconceptions can overcome even what evidence we see, close up," the shinigami observed, "I don't want to fear you."

"You don't have to," chuckled, "Even if I did want to hurt you, you're powerful."

Tetsuya looked at him questioningly.

"What? You think I'm not smart enough to figure that out?" the Espada asked, shaking his head, "You're Captain Byakuya Kuchiki's head of security and personal bodyguard. You would _have_ to be powerful, right?"

"I am...usually," Tetsuya admitted, "Just less so, when in this state."

A momentary flash of discomfort registered on Tetsuya's face, nudging Grimmjow into motion.

"This way, you said?" he asked brusquely.

"Yes," Tetsuya said, approaching the mass of burned debris.

He reached out a hand, breathing a soft command that made the air in front of him shimmer, and a door appear.

"Huh, well that's something you don't see every day," the blue-haired Espada commented, following as Tetsuya led him through the doorway.

They passed through a long hallway, then it opened up slightly, revealing several rooms to the left and right, then a great, golden door at the back of the archive.

"Where does that go?" Grimmjow asked.

"Our leader, alone, is allowed to use that door to enter the Royal Realm," Tetsuya explained, "It repels all but royal family and him."

"Huh, cool privilege."

"Yes."

Tetsuya turned into the first room on the left, which contained walls full of books, and several locked cabinets and boxes. He headed across the room, and they entered a small alcove that contained a reading desk, a bed, a small showering room and stocked kitchen area.

"I must eat to restore myself," Tetsuya said, "You are welcome to join me for food and tea, if you like. Then, I will show you where to find the materials related to your search. You did say you were interested in pursuing hollow lore related to a hollow king?"

"Yeah," said Grimmjow, "There's supposed to be something about another holocaust a thousand years ago, that was kinda like this one. Only difference was, Hueco Mundo was led, at the time, by a king. There's a reference to some prophecy about another great massacre, and the return of the hollow king to bring things into balance. That's what Kisuke needs to find."

"He means to raise the hollow king?" Tetsuya asked, paling at the thought, "But then, if we work in cooperation with the hollows, we will all have more strength with which to resist Ywach and his Sternritters."

Enough about that," Grimmjow said gruffly, "You look like you're about to pass out. Let's get some food and tea into you. Where's the food? I'll make us something. You make the tea."

"Erm...you know how to cook...for a shinigami?" Tetsuya asked uncertainly.

"Oh, don't worry," Grimmjow said, smirking at him, "I will leave out the roasted shinigami eyeballs, hearts and livers."

"Good heavens, I hope so," Tetsuya said, looking slightly ill.

"Will you shut up? I was teasing you," Grimmjow said reprovingly, "I know things are pretty damned serious right now, but you have to keep a little bit of your sense of humor, or you're gonna die a lot sooner."

"What? You will tire of me and use me for the stew?" Tetsuya asked, a bit saucily.

"Oh, I have better uses for a pretty thing like you," Grimmjow chuckled, "Go, make the tea. I'll just make some rice and vegetables. That do for you?"

"Yes, that will be fine," Tetsuya assured him, turning towards the tea making apparatus. He worked at making the tea, stealing small glances at the Espada as he worked.

_I've never really interacted with a hollow in this way. It's very different than I would have expected...but Grimmjow is powerful. I can feel the strength in him._

In minutes, the tea was hot, and Tetsuya sat down at the table, placing one cup in front of himself, and one where Grimmjow was to sit. Grimmjow finished the cooking a short time later, and brought two plates of food to the table. He dropped into his chair and dove into the food hungrily, forgetting, for a moment, the somewhat shy and reserved shinigami in his presence. He felt Tetsuya watching, and flashed the younger man a toothy grin.

"How is it?"

He watched as Tetsuya tried the meal, and nodded in approval.

"It is perfect," he said, appreciatively, "I cannot seem to get enough of it."

"That's the kid in your belly, probably stealing the nutrients."

"To some extent," Tetsuya agreed, "But just as the body needs to be fed, so does the reiatsu."

"Oh, and how does that happen?" Grimmjow asked casually.

"W-we have...had...a bonding ritual," Tetsuya explained, blushing, "But, I suppose I will have to keep the forces in balance myself, from now on."

"I could help, if you tell me how," Grimmjow offered.

Tetsuya's blush deepened and he looked away shyly.

"It is...sort of personal," he confessed, "But do not worry. I will be fine."

"Eh, suit yourself," Grimmjow said, off-handedly, turning his attention fully to the food in front of him.

He laughed softly at how eagerly the younger man attacked his food, while still making an attempt to use proper manners.

"Hey, don't feel like you have to hold back on my account," he said, smirking, "You're not exactly in 'polite company,' when you are with me. Go ahead and let loose."

"Um, thank you," the noble answered in a flustered tone, "This child does seem very insistent on being fed constantly. I was trapped for an entire night, and unable to eat or drink. It seems to have impacted me strongly."

Grimmjow turned his attention back to his food and made quick work of it, then asked for Tetsuya's opinion about where he should start his search.

"Take your time eating," he told the noble, "I'll start looking and you can join me when you are finished."

He left the alcove and began his search, as Tetsuya remained at the table, eating heartily and stealing glances at the tall, blue-haired Espada.

_He is so different from anyone I know. He would be an enemy, and in fact, was one during the conflict with Aizen. But, right now, I think we are both very aware of how we need to cooperate to survive._

He reached down and rubbed his belly, smiling down at it as he continued to eat. But, oddly, even eating didn't seem to give him the usual, calmer, more settled feeling. Instead, a deeper, more discomfiting kind of hunger gnawed at him, making him feel weak and somewhat light-headed. He took a last sip of tea and walked over to the bed, thinking to just lie down for a short time. But, even as he dropped off, he felt his body shivering a though in fever, and heavier dizziness stole over him.

"Hey, you all right?" Grimmjow's voice asked, cutting into his reverie, "You look even worse than you did before you ate. What's going on?"

"It...seems that my reiatsu has lost some stability, due to the stress on my systems," Tetsuya explained.

"So, what do we do for that?"

"Eh, usually, Shiro and I would use a bonding ritual to bring my systems and the child's into balance again."

"Well, then I should try to do that, ne? To balance things? How do you do it?"

"Ah..." Tetsuya said, hesitantly, blushing more brightly, "Y-you and I have not..."

He trailed off, his face going nearly white, and his body going limp, where he laid on the bed.

"Hey! Don't you do that, now. Wake up, okay?" Grimmjow said, an edge of urgency and unusual concern in his voice, "You have to tell me what to do to balance your reiatsu!"

He felt panic inside as he studied Tetsuya closely, just to make sure he was still breathing, then he left the shinigami on the bed and sought the books on the shelves for information.

"Come on...I need something on male pregnancy," he muttered, searching the shelves in the room he was in, then moving to the next room and conducting a quick search there. He found what he thought might be a useful text in the third room and used his sonido to quickly return to Tetsuya's side.

The noble was deeply unconscious, showing no response to Grimmjow's voice or touch. The blue-haired Espada scanned the pages of the book he had found and studied the ritual briefly.

"The bonded, having completed the initiating ritual and impregnated the subject, then places his palms on the bared belly, focusing on the area and feeling the forces within, then using his own reiatsu to stabilize the bearer and balance his reiatsu with that of the child. Only one having completed the initiating ritual may stabilize the bearer. If the mate is unable to continue the balancing, due to disability, abandonment or death, another must first complete the initiating ritual, then attend to the balancing. Damn...initiating ritual...initiating ritual. Where the fuck are you?"

He found the section and read swiftly, freezing as it struck him what he had to do.

"What the hell? No way!" he hissed, glancing down at the unconscious shinigami, "There's no damned way I'm gonna..."

But a shiver went through him at the decline of Tetsuya's reiatsu, and the grey cast that had begun to creep onto his lovely skin.

"Aw, damn it all to hell!" he snapped, biting at his lips and struggling with the idea, then caving in completely as he realized what was going to happen to the ailing shinigami and the child if he did nothing.

With shaking hands, he reached down and bared Tetsuya's body. Then, he swallowed hard and opened his own clothing.

"Please don't fucking kill me for this, but it seems that it's the only way I can balance your reiatsu, or you're gonna die. Sorry."

He lifted himself over the unconscious noble, scenting him and feeling himself harden, just thinking about what he was going to do. He carefully prepared the younger man, then laid down gently on top of him, entering him slowly and watching him closely for any sign of him waking.

The sweet sakura smell of him and the softness and heat around Grimmjow made his mind go blank for a moment. It was all too easy then to begin moving. He would have closed his eyes, but he was terrified of seeing that other pale face he remembered.

_Tetsuya is different than Tesla. Although, he does seem to have loved this Shiro very much, he is accepting of his death in a way that Tesla could not accept his master's death. No, Tetsuya is a survivor. And we are not lovers. I have to look that in the face and remember it._

But his mind wavered as Tetsuya seemed to regain enough sense to move with him, and his hands wrapped around Grimmjow's thrusting body. He moaned in distress and panted against the Espada's shoulder, hanging on tightly and shivering as it seemed to reach him, what was happening.

He seemed about to speak, but was stopped as Grimmjow loosed a deep exclamation of pleasure and loosed his release into the younger man. Blue light flared sweetly around the two, and Grimmjow froze as Tetsuya's eyes opened and found his.

He was stunned as the expected fear and shock turned quickly into calm acceptance. Tetsuya broke eye contact and buried his face in Grimmjow's shoulder as his own body seized in response to the Espada, and warmth spilled out between the two. They fell quiet, then, for several moments, then Grimmjow lifted himself off of the noble and placed his hands on Tetsuya's rounded belly, letting his reiatsu leak out and enter the area. He focused on the swirl of untamed reiatsu inside Tetsuya, and slowly, carefully, brought it under his control.

"There," he said, finally breaking the silence between them, "You all right now?"

"Y-yes," Tetsuya managed in a weak, trembling voice, "But Grimmjow, do you know what you have done?"

"Yeah, I just saved your life," the Espada chuckled, "Sorry about what I had to do. I did do that right, ne? But it was that or watch you die."

"You didn't read everything, did you?" Tetsuya asked softly.

"What? Well, I didn't have time. You were dying, you know, so I had to do it...erm...do something fast. Why? Did I do something wrong? Would you rather be dead?"

"Well," Tetsuya said softly, "_You_ might end up desiring that, perhaps."

"What? How's that?"

"Erm...by completing the initiating ritual so that we could bond, you added your essence to the child's reiatsu. Grimmjow, now you are this child's father too!"


	3. Not this Soul

**Chapter 3: Not This Soul**

"Grimmjow, now you are this child's father too."

The blue-haired Espada did a slow doubletake, his ice-blue eyes narrowing as Tetsuya's softly spoken words hit home.

"Wait, what the hell'd you say?" he demanded, "What was that?"

"I said that when you...you..."

"When I had sex with you?" Grimmjow asked, scowling and making Tetsuya's face and throat flush in reaction.

"Yes, that caused a binding of your semen and reiatsu with the cluster that makes up the child. As long as it is in reiatsu form, inside me, it will be affected by anyone who...t-takes me sexually."

"You're shitting me, right? That's crazy!"

"It was in that book."

"Well, it's not like I had time to read the fucking fine print! You were this close to dying!" the Espada objected, glaring at the fiercely blushing noble, "Look, I can't be your goddamned babydaddy, okay? I don't have room in my life for that kind of pain in the ass complication, and I doubt you signed on for being the mate of a hollow!"

"N-no," Tetsuya managed, glaring back at Grimmjow, "But, it is not like I had any choice, or any control over the situation."

"Oh, so this is _my_ fault for not letting you die while I read every little detail about your condition? And what fucking weird kinda shit _is _that, anyway?"

"I told you! I am a rare case," Tetsuya said, his ire rising, "I am not blaming you for doing what you did. In fact, I am grateful to you. But you must be able to understand my shock at waking up..."

"To find yourself being fucked by a hollow. I get that! I didn't really want to do it, you know?"

"Yes, I know. And being that I've only just lost my husband, I don't feel ready either. So, don't worry about helping me anymore. I can see that you have important things to do. And I have responsibilities as well. I will tell you what. I will help you find what you need, then you can be on your way to save Hueco Mundo and you can forget that this baby and I exist!" Tetsuya snapped angrily.

"That's fine by me!" shouted Grimmjow, "I told you I don't need that kinda trouble right now!"

"Fine!" the noble said, clenching his jaw and looking away from the Espada.

Grimmjow turned on his heel and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Tetsuya lying on the bed and looking down at his recently plundered body. He swallowed hard, remembering when consciousness had begun to return.

_At first, it seemed as though Shiro had suddenly returned to him. And even though he understood that his husband had died, some part of him still clung to the beauty of what they had shared. _

_But then, he began to register the differences...the wilder feel of this man's motions, the strength in the arms that held him, the intensity in his burgeoning reiatsu. Tetsuya reeled as Grimmjow's more primal, hollow reiatsu collided with his, producing an explosion of light and power around them, as the two forces met, and began to merge. _

_As the bond opened up between them, Tetsuya suffered a jolt at the flashes of memory and thought that emanated from the other man...memories of life as a hollow, of Aizen and the war against the shinigamis, then the aftermath. The pale, tormented face of another hollow appeared in Tetsuya's stunned mind, leaving a dark, sad impression as he slowly returned to reality and began to respond, almost without thinking, to the movement of Grimmjow's strong body on top of his._

_He felt no animosity, nor cruelty in the hollow's riled thoughts...only concern, and something nagging that seemed to relate to that other hollow he had been thinking about._

Tetsuya looked up at the bathroom door, listening to the sound of the falling water and wondering.

_What happened to that other hollow that seems to make Grimmjow so irascible? And what was this hollow to him? A lover? Or were they married?_

He forced the thoughts away and left the bed, quickly locating a washcloth and towel, and cleaning up the sticky mess their joining had left on his body. He was surprised at the fact that the memory of being with Grimmjow, a hollow and a natural enemy of the shinigamis, would bring, not revulsion or fear, but instead inspired curiosity.

_He is so very different than what I expected, although I was aware that the higher level Arrancars were more civilized and intelligent. They are still hollows, but they are not as different from us as one would think. In fact, we are startlingly similar in some ways. We both care about others, about the fate of our kin. We both love and despise. We embrace the good things and press on through the bad. We both protect our own and have pride in who we are._

_Not so very different._

Inside the bathroom, breathing deeply in the comfort of his first hot shower in weeks, Grimmjow's mind seemed to pick up on the path of Tetsuya's thoughts, and he found himself wondering at what had happened between Tetsuya and him.

_It was strange, becoming one with somebody so different, not just because he is a shinigami and a noble and I am a hollow, but because of his gentler nature. Tetsuya is powerful, and I sense that he has the ability to inflict serious damage. But he holds back carefully and doesn't make any show of his ability, except when he has to. But then, we had to show our teeth, growing up in Hueco Mundo. If you show weakness there, you aren't going to survive. You'll be devoured. Yeah, Tetsuya and me are very different types._

_But what was that I saw while we were joined? I saw him as a kid, curled up in a cage and hurting. The guards in that place looked like him, too. Why would someone like Tetsuya have been imprisoned like that? It's hard to make sense of._

_But it doesn't matter, right?_

_Tetsuya Kuchiki and his little brat are not my problem, after I finish my research, here. I'll leave him with his family, and I'm sure they won't let him die. Someone else will just fuck him and be bonded with him. That's not a bad thing, right? Why would he want to be bonded with someone like me, anyway? _

_We're from different worlds._

_Sure, he's beautiful and powerful, and I could spend the rest of my life, lost on those pretty eyes of his. I can imagine how good those soft hands would feel, holding on to me like he did when I carried him...like he did when I made love to him._

Grimmjow froze, blinking.

_Stop it. It was just sex. And it was only to keep him and the kid from dying. Anyone would have done the same thing, ne? It's not like I could have sat there, knowing I had what was needed, but not doing anything. Who could do that, right? Especially with it being someone like him. Yeah, I know the type...powerful inside, but pretty and soulful on the surface. He's loyal, the kind who would die to protect even those another person wouldn't raise a finger to save. Because he doesn't have the same barriers that other people do. He was afraid of me, at first, but that heart in him discovered quickly that we aren't that different, and now he treats me like anyone else. I don't know anyone else like that. I could use some of that in my life._

_But that's craziness._

_It's not like we'd be able to be together, if it wasn't for the facts of this war. We would be enemies, and we probably wouldn't have ever met, except with the intent of killing each other. But, why can't I think of Tetsuya as an enemy?_

Grimmjow's mind was invaded, then, with memories of touching that warm, soft body, breathing in the lovely smell of sakura and becoming one with Tetsuya. And just that memory was enough to make his thick member stiffen again. He looked down at the offending appendage, frowning.

_You don't know what's good for you and what's not. I'm a hollow. I've got no business fucking a shinigami. We're enemies...at least, most of the time. And what would we do if we did get together? Somehow, I don't see Tetsuya leaving the Seireitei and coming to raise this kid in a fucking cave, in the desert, where there's not even any proper food and water. And I'm a hollow. I belong in that dead place, not here. I'm sure that, after the war, the others here will be glad to remind me of that, if I forget._

_But, who says we're even going to live through this?_

_If Ywach wins, then we're all fucking dead anyway. So, maybe it's not so reckless to hold on for a little while to something that doesn't belong to me. At very least, he's soft, hot and very beautiful. I feel like it wasn't enough, just being with him that once. I didn't get to really explore him at all. I was in too much of a hurry._

_Yeah, it would be better to slow down and take my time undoing him..._

Grimmjow didn't mean for it to happen, but teased by his thoughts of the younger man, he let his eyes slide closed and ran a soapy hand down his torso, finding his hungry arousal and stimulating it slowly, as he imagined how he would make love to Tetsuya.

_It's stupid. It's never going to happen this way. But, who gives a damn, right? It feels good to think of it, and not much else that's good is going on right now. I need something to get me through. And it's not hurting anyone. It's not like it's real._

His hand moved slowly, sliding over the slick satin skin and causing lovely flickers of pleasure all over. He pictured in his mind, _Tetsuya standing in front of him, those wide, sapphire eyes looking into his and pleading softly for his touch. In his mind's eye, he let his fingers slide through the wavy lengths of riled black hair, his mouth seeking Tetsuya's and his tongue thrusting inside as Tetsuya moved closer and let their naked bodies press together. He wrapped an arm around the noble's waist, holding him tightly as their kissing continued, then seeking the warm, wet skin of his throat and devouring it slowly...feeling the heavy, quickened throbs of his heartbeat beneath the fine, sweet skin and his riled member leaking fitfully in response._

_He tightened his fingers in the shinigami's hair, pulling him away and looking into his dark, lovely eyes for a moment, then pushing him downward. Tetsuya's slick skin teased his as the noble slid slowly down his torso, touching it with brief, fluttering kisses all of the way. He came down lightly on his knees and looked up into Grimmjow's aggressively glittering eyes, before placing his hands on the taller man's thighs and seeking his engorged member._

_Grimmjow couldn't help but moan out loud, just thinking about being pleasured by that heated, silken mouth, looking down into those smoldering, half-closed eyes and devouring that wonderful, sweet scent. And Tetsuya, it seemed, couldn't get enough of the wild, untamed taste of him. He brought the blue-haired Espada to the very ends of his wits, making his heart pound fiercely until he began to disappear into the sensation. Grimmjow loosed himself forcefully, gasping at the grippingly beautiful jolts of pleasure and caressing the lovely shinigami's pale throat as Tetsuya fed on his essence._

_He pulled the younger man back onto his feet, forcing him back against the tiled wall and falling on his mouth, savoring the blending of their heady, masculine flavors. Tetsuya moaned into his mouth and his slender hand found Grimmjow's, asking without words, for a return of the pleasure he had given his Arrancar lover._

_The blue-haired Espada was more that happy to respond. His seething mouth and seeking fingers sought to touch and explore every inch of that sweet, perfect skin. And every taste only made him want another, every touch made him want to touch the shinigami there again. And in far less time than should have happened, Grimmjow was aroused again. Unable to resist, he captured one of the shinigami's slim legs and lifted it, perfecting the angle so that he could take Tetsuya, still standing. Then, he plunged deeply into his shinigami lover's shaking body, moving fast and feeding both their swelling desires. Tetsuya clung hard to his shoulders, his pearly nails biting into the Espada's flesh. But Grimmjow couldn't feel it at all. No, all he could feel was the rush of intense madness, the bliss that wrapped around them, enveloped them...swallowed them whole and left Tetsuya collapsed against him, and both men bathed in the rapture of their mutual climax._

Grimmjow panted harshly, pleasure raking his body as he returned suddenly to reality. Then, a sudden thought occurred to him.

_If I can sometimes see into his mind, does Tetsuya also see things in mine?_

He let out a piqued breath.

_What a fucking pain in the ass..._

_Let's just hope he wasn't paying attention to that._

Although, he imagined the powerful reiatsu swells might well have alerted the younger man to what he was doing.

_Who in the hell cares? It doesn't matter. None of it does. That pest is out of my life when we're done here, and he'll be back where he belongs. My head should go back into the right place, once he's gone._

But some part of him wasn't so sure.

Grimmjow gave a soft, piqued exhale and washed away the evidence of his mental wanderings, then left the shower and dried off. He walked out into the bedroom and found that Tetsuya had changed out of his torn, dirty clothes and was no longer in the bedroom.

"Baka," the Espada hissed softly, "You should still be in bed."

He put on a yukata he found in the closet, then slipped out of the bedroom on silent feet and stalked the young noble, to a room near the golden doorway at the end of the hall, where Tetsuya stood on a small ladder, reaching up to remove a book from one of the high shelves. Grinning smugly, the Espada lowered himself into a crouch and stalked closer, watching as Tetsuya remained on the ladder, perusing the tome he had chosen, for a few moments, then shaking his head, replacing it on the shelf, and reaching for another.

The Espada employed his fastest sonido, blazing silently across the room and sweeping the surprised shinigami off of the ladder, then delivering him onto a bed in the alcove in that room. Tetsuya gasped in surprise as he was collected up, and carefully restrained himself from reacting as he normally might have, at being grabbed by what would normally be an enemy. Instead, he laid on his back, beneath the Sexta Espada, looking up into his stern eyes questioningly.

"You shouldn't be up, and especially not climbing on ladders, you fool," he said reprovingly, "Your bones might have been healed, but your body needs time to recover. And you should eat some more. I'll make you something."

"But, the information you asked for...?"

"You just let me worry about that," Grimmjow snapped, "You don't need to be worried about the fate of some goddamned hollows, when your world is falling apart too."

Tetsuya's eyes flickered with anger and his lips tightened rebelliously.

"We _all_ should care about what happens to _all_ of us. Because, the truth is that, if we had been attending to that, we might have kept both of our worlds from falling, Grimmjow."

The words shouldn't have made him feel anything, let alone the deep sadness that shot through him. He glared back at Tetsuya, letting his fingers run down the side of one soft cheek, then stealing a slow, savory kiss.

"Shut up, okay? Just rest. You've already told me where to look. And I can ask you whatever I need to know. You need to take advantage of this time you have for healing. Once we go out there again, we're both going to be fighting for our lives, alongside everyone else. You understand? I won't be there to save your ass if you get trapped again, Tetsuya."

"I know that," the noble said, touches of mingled sadness and belligerence in his voice, "I don't need you to save me again, Grimmjow. I won't be a hindrance, once we leave here."

"Good," the Espada said, trying to fend off the odd emotions that nagged at what felt like his heart, "Because I don't need some pathetic, needy boy-girl, chasing after me, dreaming there's something there that's not!"

He ignored the instant look of hurt that flashed in the noble's stormy blue eyes, and lifted himself, then walked back to the shelves that Tetsuya had been searching. He turned back, intending to ask where he'd left off, when a swift flash step sounded, and Tetsuya disappeared from the room.

"Shit..."

He followed after, catching the younger man around the waist, then finding himself left breathless as Tetsuya turned and hit him with three, lightning fast strikes, sending him sliding back and leaving him crouched and gasping on the floor. A moment later, the glowing tip of a blue steel sword touched his back.

"Huh..." he huffed, closing his eyes.

"You see," Tetsuya panted, "I don't need _you_ or anyone else to save me. I have Arashi, and when Byakuya returns, I will have him too. That is all that I need in the world. It is all that I still live for."

"Stupid fool!" Grimmjow roared, knocking the sword aside and forcing Tetsuya back against the wall, "Are you completely out of your mind? You know, blind loyalty like that will only take you so far, and then you are going to break apart and die Tesla! Let it go! Let it _fucking_ go and live for yourself or you really are going to die!"

He realized suddenly what he had said and stared into Tetsuya's widened eyes, knowing he couldn't have missed it either. There was a long moment of silence, then Tetsuya's hand touched Grimmjow's lightly.

"You lost someone too," he said, more softly, "You understand how..."

"I don't understand _shit_!" Grimmjow hissed, shivering with memory, "But I do know that if you don't find something more to live for than your leader, your horse, or your dead husband, you are going to fall apart, Tetsuya! You need to have more than that."

"I know that," Tetsuya said solemnly, "I do have more to live for."

He captured Grimmjow's hand and brought it to rest on his baby bump.

"You have more to live for too. You should remember that."

Grimmjow scowled.

"Shut up and get back in that bed, before I tie you down!"

Without waiting for an answer, Grimmjow swept him off his feet and returned him to bed. Tetsuya complied quietly, his dark eyes contemplative as the Espada tucked him in, then brought him food and tea again. He left Tetsuya alone with a final admonishment to stay in bed, then left to search the shelves of the archive. Tetsuya ate silently, his mind replaying their last interaction, then blushing as he remembered what had crept into his mind while the Espada had been showering.

_He was thinking of, not just bonding or 'having sex,' but making love to me. Why is he like this? Why are his actions such a departure from what he really feels? Who was Tesla to him, and how, exactly, did he die?_

_He is so complicated._

_I wonder what he will really decide to do about us, once it is time to leave here._

_But that assumes there is an 'us' to consider._

He felt a stirring in his belly and rubbed the area gently, feeling the echoes of the three who had contributed to the child's existence.

_I won't think about the future. I will just focus on what we have now._

_That will have to be enough, in case we have no tomorrow._


	4. Hollow Inside

**Chapter 4: Hollow Inside**

Grimmjow felt a disturbance in the reiatsu around him, and his sharp ears picked up the soft sounds of mourning, emanating from where Tetsuya laid, within the alcove nearest him. He listened for a few minutes, expecting that the shinigami was dreaming of his lost husband, and that he would probably stop on his own. But the soft, keening sound continued, and tugged oddly at the corners of his memory.

_"Stop. You're reiatsu is starting to fade," he pleaded urgently, holding Tesla's softly trembling form against his chest, "You have to find a way to go on without him. Don't you get it, you fool? He didn't love you! He didn't."_

_"Stop it!" Tesla sobbed, breaking free and striking at him with his bare hands, "Don't say that about M-master Nnoi...!"_

_"Listen to me!" he hissed, grabbing the fraccion's tormented face, "We've both lost people, Tesla! You and me. But it doesn't mean that we have to lose ourselves. Get a grip on yourself or..."_

He forced the thought away roughly and stepped softly in Tetsuya's direction. He reached the bed and found the shinigami sitting up and turned away from him.

"I am s-sorry to have disturbed you, Grimmjow," he managed, putting a hand to his face and brushing away the tears.

"What are you talking about?" the Espada asked gruffly, "I was tired and need to rest. I just came to lie down. If you need to keep crying, go ahead. Just keep it down, because I need some sleep, okay?"

"Oh. Of course," Tetsuya answered, blinking and looking back at him curiously as Grimmjow laid down next to him and closed his eyes.

Distracted from his misery, Tetsuya instead gazed quietly down at the Espada, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as Grimmjow rested with his eyes closed. He couldn't help but admire the handsome face, more relaxed and not scowling so much as the Espada slept, the wilder, more feral scent of him and the hollow's lean, muscular body. He blushed, remembering the feel of Grimmjow's hands as they had held him and prepared him, the feel of that other strong body on top of him and straining for completion, and most poignantly, those ice blue eyes that told Tetsuya that he was not the only one who was hurting over a lost love.

_He did love this other hollow, Tesla. He doesn't want to admit that, but it's true, just the same. I wonder..._

"Grimmjow?"

"Ungh...?" the hollow grunted.

"I am sorry to bother you, but...I need balancing again."

"Huh?" the Espada huffed, sitting up and rubbing his hands over his face, "Okay, c'mere."

Tetsuya moved closer and remained relaxed as the Espada's arms encircled him from behind, then Grimmjow's warm hands slipped beneath his yukata and began to caress his rounded belly. A soft, pale blue glow rose around the two, shimmering lightly as the balancing commenced.

"That feel better?" Grimmjow asked in a sleepy voice, "You look more comfortable already."

"I am, thank you. Again, I am sorry to disturb you."

"T's okay. You can't help what you need and I don't mind helping you or I wouldn't do it."

"But it still must be an annoyance to you."

"Naw, not really," Grimmjow yawned, "It's kinda nice to touch someone soft and warm like you sometimes. I get enough burning anger and boring wasted hours. I'm not gonna complain about holding and touching you, especially now that you stopped crying."

"I don't feel so much like crying when you have your arms around me," Tetsuya admitted, "I know I need to be strong enough to stand on my own, and I will be again when I've given birth, but it does feel good to be held by someone strong too."

"Are you flirting with me?" Grimmjow chuckled, "It's dangerous to do that while I'm balancing you. I'm already hard from the connection it makes, see?"

The Espada's hand captured Tetsuya's and guided it to his inflamed member. Tetsuya's heart quickened instantly, but he kept his hand relaxed. Blushing, he cleared his throat softly and moved his fingers experimentally. Grimmjow emitted a sound somewhere between a growl and a purr, but said nothing. His ice blue eyes held Tetsuya's darker blue ones as the noble froze for a moment, wondering if he dared continue.

"You sure you really want to do that?" Grimmjow asked finally, "I wasn't trying to seduce you, but I'm not going to turn you down if you want to have sex. Just, if you're going to do that, then be prepared to go all of the way. Are you sure you don't want to stop that now? You didn't seem too thrilled when I fucked you before."

"I was a bit taken by surprise," Tetsuya answered tentatively, "We didn't know each other really at all. I've watched you a little more, and I'm not unwilling. We each have something to offer each other in the ways of assistance and comfort. That isn't wrong."

"I don't know if your elders would agree with you there."

"Over half of the noble elders are dead, and the ones who are left are going to be more tolerant, given the role that the hollows are playing in the war, I think."

"Look, you should know right now, it would just be while we're here, no drama afterward and no having you follow me back to Hueco Mundo, okay? You should really keep your options open, and when we get out of this, you should go to someone else to continue the bonding."

"I understand," Tetsuya replied, lowering his eyes, "I won't expect anything from you."

"And you won't cry over me when I leave you?"

"I will try not to. If I do, I won't let you see," Tetsuya promised.

"Fine," the hollow agreed, turning Tetsuya's head so that the shingami met him for a long, slow, open-mouthed kiss over Tetsuya's shoulder.

Tetsuya sighed and sank more deeply into Grimmjow's embrace, still caressing the aroused hollow's nether region as their bonding and kissing intensified. The noble turned suddenly, spreading his thighs and sliding onto the hollow's lap, bringing their erect members into contact and eliciting a pleased snarl from the Espada. Grimmjow barely remembered what his hands were supposed to be doing as Tetsuya's hips moved, causing powerfully erotic friction and making him growl more threateningly.

He barely held onto his composure as the bonding came to an end and he wrapped his large hands around the noble's soft, round bottom, moving with him as they kissed more aggressively. Grimmjow felt a warning jolt in his belly at noting that Tetsuya's eyes remained opened and focused steadily on his as they continued to make love.

"Maybe you shouldn't keep looking at me like that," he panted in the noble's ear, "Too much eye contact and it'll be harder to walk away later. Trust me."

"Your eyes are too enchanting to look away from," Tetsuya whispered, kissing his way down Grimmjow's pale throat, then running his soft, pink tongue along a long collarbone, "I cannot help it."

"Wh-whatever," the Espada groaned, his loins throbbing with desire as the pretty, blue-eyed shinigami crawled down his chest, caressing him with affectionate hands and teasing with that delightfully feisty tongue, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Tetsuya didn't answer, but continued to meander slowly down the hollow's slim, muscular torso, pausing at his midsection to explore the hole in his body. His fingers slid calmly over every inch, first the edges, then moving gradually inside, and as the gentle touches continued, the warm blue glow around them intensified.

"Stop it...I c-can't...might fire a damned cero if you keep that up!"

Tetsuya paused and kissed his way around the opening, then met Grimmjow's eyes as he traced the opening with his fingertips.

"They say that a hollow hole is made when a soul is not saved by a shinigami and sent to Soul Society. The dark emotion that results fills the heart and the heart is lost. The missing heart becomes the mask and is what gives the hollow his unique power. It makes me wonder, Grimmjow. Do you remember not being a hollow?"

"No, not really," the Espada answered, narrowing his eyes, "When we become hollows, we forget being human. So, we lose all sense of what made us what we are. It isn't until we grow strong and begin to regain our minds that some begin retrieving memories. Most of us don't want to remember."

"I see. Remembering is painful."

"Yeah."

"Are you aware that shinigamis don't really kill hollows?"

"What?" Grimmjow mumbled, frowning, "What do you mean?"

"The shinigami blade cuts away the dark emotion, freeing the soul from his mask and powers and sending him to Soul Society, thus righting the wrong of having allowed the soul to be corrupted in the first place. The reason that hollows perceive this as 'killing' is because their power comes from the lost heart. Once the heart is returned by cutting away the dark emotion, the soul returns to its original state."

"Huh, well don't go getting any ideas about 'helping me out' okay? I am just fine with who I am. I've got no use for who I was. You get it?"

"Yes."

Tetsuya's head bowed and he returned to offering the Espada gentle stimulation below his navel and moving downward.

"Hah...ah!" Grimmjow groaned, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he sank his long fingers into Tetsuya's silken hair and urged him to move lower.

Softened lips treasured the sensitive white flesh of the hollow's lower abdomen, lingering over the area, while his hand caressed the hollow's piqued privates, making Grimmjow growl and writhe fitfully as the pleasure and feelings of longing increased. He felt the weight of Tetsuya's blue eyes still watching him shamelessly.

_This is reckless. We should stop. He isn't the kind who just fucks someone for the company or pleasure. It really means something to him. I should never have let this happen._

But he felt Tetsuya's hands come to rest on his sweat misted thighs, pushing them apart, while he laid down between them, pausing to take in the hollow's wild, wanton scent, then descending eagerly on his nether region. Grimmjow watched with the eyes of one watching a disaster unfold before his eyes, knowing what was probably going to happen, but helpless to stop it as Tetsuya's ministrations crashed easily through all of his defenses.

"F-fuck!" he gasped his hips rising off of the bed and his eyes closing tightly, while heavy throbs of intense pleasure brought him slowly to the very ends of his wits.

"Tetsuya!" he moaned, fully cognizant of how it sounded, spoken with such longing and ringing with an aching need for completion.

Tetsuya breathed his name onto the hollow's blushing skin, continuing to pleasure him and never taking his eyes off the lovely spectacle that was Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. And just when he was sure that the Espada couldn't get any more beautiful than being splayed out on his back with his legs spread and his body flushed, fully exposed and tensed with arousal, Grimmjow loosed a long, desirous howl, his body glowing almost blindingly, then beginning to change.

His blue hair lengthened and his hands darkened and grew into razor sharp claws. His eyes darkened and grew even more fierce, and his blue hair lengthened until it ran down his back. On each side of his head, his ears grew longer, more furry and pointed.

"Grimmjow!" Tetsuya gasped, going perfectly still as the Espada overthrew him and brought him down on his back, "Are you...are you going to...?"

"Are you scared now?" the hollow snarled in his ear, making Tetsuya quiver beneath his hands, "You should be. My instinct to kill is hard to control in this form. But you wanted me to give you everything, every bit of me, didn't you?"

"Y-yes!" Tetsuya panted, his heart pounding so fast that his ears rang warningly, "I want all of you!"

He sat back, allowing the shaken noble to crawl onto his lap.

"I can't prepare you right because my claws might hurt you," the Espada apologized, grabbing Tetsuya's bottom and positioning him carefully, "Sorry, it might be painful."

Tetsuya's frightened eyes fixed on the Espada's dangerously aroused ones, and slowly he lowered himself, joining their hungry, trembling bodies. Grimmjow tried to hold the noble still to give him time to adjust, but even though he clenched his jaw in reaction and gave a shuddering groan as their bodies were joined, Tetsuya began moving almost instantly, making the Espada's claws tighten slightly in reaction and barely breaking the skin on the shinigami's pale shoulders.

"Oh!" Grimmjow groaned loudly, unconcerned about the noise he was making and finding himself smiling as Tetsuya's erotic utterances only made him thrust harder and faster, "Holy hell!...Oh...ah...gods! You're killing me! You're fucking killing me, Tetsuya!"

He wasn't sure quite how it happened, but one moment, he was reclined with the shinigami writhing in his lap, and the next he had Tetsuya on his hands and knees on the bed, his head lowered and his hands clenching the bedding tightly.

"Oh! Oh kami!" he panted furiously, gasping as Grimmjow roared atop his back and Tetsuya felt himself being filled with long jolts of blinding heat. He screamed in surrender, and his hollow instincts roaring to the fore, Grimmjow felt a sudden, crushing impulse to simply devour the shinigami, then and there. Hissing with fury, he instead threw Tetsuya over onto his back and dropped down between his shaking thighs, making the shinigami tremble harder as Tetsuya felt those sharp claws threatening. Then, the Espada's mouth descended on him, leaving all levity behind as Grimmjow's ministrations made him give himself over to completion with a final, ringing cry.

Tetsuya groaned, so dipped into pleasure that his body couldn't move, but laid helpless, while Grimmjow rested his face on the undone noble's hip and smiled up at him.

"Well, I didn't eat you that time," he chuckled, "I can't make any promises about next time. You were reckless to rile me that much. I could have killed you."

Tetsuya gave him a disarming smile.

"Then, I would have died happy," he sighed, "I don't know why, but being with you takes away some of the weight of everything. For some reason, as long as you're here, I feel like everything will be all right."

"That's just the afterglow, _baka_," Grimmjow snapped softly, dragging himself up to sink warmly into the shinigami's waiting arms.

They laid quietly together, Tetsuya's eyes still open and fixed on Grimmjow, watching raptly as the Espada's released form faded and he returned to his more natural state.

"Grimmjow?"

"Hmm?"

"You were really lovely like that."

"And dangerous, fool!" the hollow reminded him, "You shouldn't do that to me again."

"I will try to be more careful next time."

"Good. Now, get some rest. After you sleep and eat a little, you're going to help me with the research I'm working on. Urahara-san needs it as soon as it can be gathered."

Tetsuya turned his back and the Espada curled around him, reaching an arm around his waist and letting his hand rub the noble's rounded belly as they began to drift off together.

_What am I doing? I should know better than this. This is a shinigami, and a guy who doesn't know how to protect his heart at all. That's the kind that always gets hit the hardest by the shit life deals them. But, he's not so much like Tesla. He cries, but it's to slough off the heavy emotion. And he's pregnant, so he's gonna get emotional. He can't help that._

_Fuck, why does he have to be so damned cute...so warm and alive...so damned beautiful? How in the hell am I supposed to walk away?_

Tetsuya stirred in his arms, sighing softly and cuddling closer, a calm, contented look taking over his comely face.

_I'll deal with it later. For right now, I just need to focus on getting that information Urahara-san needs._

Grimmjow felt a warm throbbing in his loins as he remembered the way that Tetsuya had made love to him.

_No wonder that other guy loved him. When Tetsuya gives someone his heart, he gives it all and holds nothing back._

_So, why would he give his heart to someone who already promised to break it?_

He stole another glance at Tetsuya's calm sleeping face and sighed heavily.

One lovely blue eye opened and fixed on him.

"Are you all right, Grimmjow?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

"But, I'm not so tired anymore."

"Well, I am, so shut up and go back to sleep."

Tetsuya chuckled softly and burrowed into the Espada's shoulder.

_He can still smile_, Grimmjow mused, _even after all of the death and loss around him. I've never met anyone like that before._

_Never._


	5. In the Past Lies the Future

**Chapter 5: In the Past Lies the Future**

Tetsuya pored over the open text in front of him, honing in on the information that he and the Sexta Espada sought. His head nodded slightly as he read several passages, then stopped and looked up at the blue-haired hollow.

"I found something here," he informed Grimmjow, "_Beneath the ruins of the fallen dynasty, amidst the bones of their fallen warriors, the survivors knelt, their heads bowed as the shinigami, Genryuusai Yamamoto thanked them for their sacrifice. "And know this," he told them, pausing and looking up into the sky, "The king is grateful to you, and he promises that he will look after this world. And when the weapon of the enemy should fall on the occupants of this land again, return here to awaken his promise. Bring the ashes of the old king and pour them over the bones of the fighters here. The new king will rise from the old king's ashes and thus will the kingship be restored."_

"Fuck..." Grimmjow muttered.

"What's wrong?" Tetsuya asked, blinking.

"We could've asked that old goat for more information, but the quincy king killed him in the first battle.

"Head Captain Yamamoto is...?" Tetsuya began, looking alarmed.

"Dead. His body blasted to bits. He's gone."

Tetsuya's blue eyes became troubled and his fingers trembled as he turned the page of the book in front of him and continued to read silently.

"That kinda rattled you, ne?" Grimmjow inquired, "Sorry. Was he a friend of yours or something?"

Tetsuya looked up from the book again.

"He was friends with Byakuya's grandfather and was a friendly eye that watched over my cousin when Ginrei departed for the royal realm. His loss only underscores the danger we are in...the danger that our kin and our king face."

"Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Do you _know_ how much power that man wielded? That one man was the crowning jewel of the Gotei 13! He is irreplaceable! So much of our history rests on his power, his protection, his leadership."

"Well, leaders rise and fall, Tetsuya," Grimmjow said, shaking his head.

"You don't understand. Losing him while still facing such an enemy..."

"Pretty much puts you guys in a position us hollows know all too well. But you've been here, roof over your head, food on your table, clean water running everywhere. You don't have any idea about what it's like to have nothing and no one there for you, to have to fight for every mouthful of food, to be cold and have nothing comfortable to sleep on."

Tetsuya regarded him silently, giving him a look that suggested he had made some kind of mistake, but explaining nothing. Then he turned his attention back to the book in front of him, dismissing the blue-haired hollow completely. Grimmjow frowned, his breath catching as he remembered the image he had picked up from the shinigami's mind...of Tetsuya as a boy, thin and emaciated, his poorly cared for body curled around another that was equally neglected.

"Eh...sorry," he apologized.

"It's fine," Tetsuya said off-handedly, "I am more than used to being looked down on and judged harshly."

Tetsuya flinched as Grimmjow took the book from his hands and looked into his eyes.

"If I'm wrong about you, tell me why," he said, scowling, "You know that you weren't the only one who caught glimpses of the other guy's life when we bonded."

Tetsuya inhaled sharply and averted his eyes hastily, only to have his face captured in the blue-haired hollow's strong hands and their eyes forcibly locked.

"I asked you to explain this to me," Grimmjow persisted, "Explain to me why people who looked noble, like you, were imprisoning kids, starving them and torturing them. What's so scary about you that people way more powerful than you would be afraid enough to hurt you like that?"

"Why do you want me to tell you?" Tetsuya asked bitterly, "Since we arrived here, all you have done is set my feelings aside, say they're not important and tell me not to cry about them in front of you. And now, like that, you want me to tell you about the greatest pain my heart carried before this war? Why would I confide anything in you?"

"Fuck! Fine then, don't tell me! Like I give a damn anyway!" Grimmjow snapped, pulling free of him, "Keep it to yourself, if you want to. It's nothing to me."

He started to pick up another of the books in the stack they had been searching together, but paused and cringed inwardly at the barely audible sob that escaped the pregnant noble as he turned away. Grimmjow reached for Tetsuya's arm, then made a sound of surprise as the noble vanished and water splashed to the ground where his body had been. A moment later, he caught sight of a shadowy, pale figure escaping through the archive door.

"Tetsuya!" he called, engaging his sonido and hurrying after.

He burst outside and looked around the devastated ruins.

"Tetsuya, come back inside," he said sternly, careful not to raise his voice too much, "You shouldn't be out here. Come on. We can talk or I can just leave you alone, if you want. But it's crazy staying out here...not that I think you're helpless or anything. It's just safer in here, that's all. You want to keep that baby safe, right?"

"I am not the one endangering anyone," Tetsuya said sullenly, reappearing alongside the black stallion that had carried them to the archive, "I am safe with Arashi. He will protect me. And he certainly won't say such cruel things as you do."

"Sure he will," Grimmjow said in a perfectly serious tone, "He'll just be say'em in horse language so you don't understand and won't get all offended."

He started laugh, but stopped and stared as Arashi snorted fiercely and stamped a delicate foot, emitting a small amount of steam from his widened nostrils. The hollow took a step back, then crossed his arms and scowled.

"Great, he can protect you, fine. But are you telling me that you're going to let him screw you so he can continue bonding with you?" Grimmjow asked pointedly, "You _do_ still need the bonding."

"You are going to leave me anyway," Tetsuya reminded him, "Why does it matter to you if it's now or later? You've made it clear I'm nothing but a burden to you."

"I didn't call you a burden," Grimmjow countered, "Look, we both have some baggage. I have a big mouth and a hot temper. That's a hollow for you. I'm offensive, impolite and inappropriate. You've known all of that from the moment we met, but you overlooked it because we both kinda needed each other."

"What did you ever need from me?" Tetsuya asked, frowning, "As far as I can tell, I've only been a bother."

"You helped me find the archive," Grimmjow said more quietly, "You're pretty good company. You're soft and warm and alive in a place where there's mostly death. You're good looking and I like making love to you. I don't mind the bonding. It feels good and we usually have sex afterwards. I know we're too different and your family would never accept me, but I do like you. Can't help that."

Tetsuya started to smile, then felt a jolt of terror as a white clad figure stepped out of the brush and fired a volley of quincy arrows at Grimmjow's unprotected back. Grimmjow registered his distress and started to turn, then felt a strange sensation, like being suddenly engulfed in water and moved violently to another place. He regained his vision a moment later and found himself standing at the archive door with Tetsuya and the stallion. Arashi squealed and loosed a huge blast of ice blades that swallowed up their attacker for a moment, giving them time to retreat into the archive. Grimmjow slammed the door behind them and looked to where Tetsuya stood, panting and shaking, his back against the archive wall and barely able to keep his feet.

The former Espada exchanged aggressive glances with the stallion, then approached Tetsuya, wearing a somewhat relieved expression.

"They can't get in here, right?" he asked.

Tetsuya shook his head wordlessly.

"Then, we're okay."

Tetsuya gave another tentative nod and rubbed his abdomen with a still trembling hand.

"Are you all right?" Grimmjow asked, moving closer.

"I-I...the quincy didn't hurt me, but the stress is causing me to have pains."

"C'mon," Grimmjow said, lifting the overwrought noble off his feet, "I'll balance your reiatsu for you...unless you really want your ice-spitting horse to do it for you."

"No," Tetsuya answered, regaining some levity as the feeling of danger faded, "You will be fine."

"I may want to make love to you after, and we were just fighting..." Grimmjow teased.

"I can forgive you," Tetsuya chuckled, "Just do try not to insult me for the duration."

"I don't know. That's a pretty tall order. But I'll tell you what. You saved my life back there. That guy had me, dead to rights. And after how crappy I was to you, I wouldn't have blamed you for letting him kill me."

"Grimmjow, I don't want you to die," Tetsuya said, his face clouding, "and even though you've been cross with me, I can tell you don't want me to die either. I don't know why a hollow cares about me, a shinigami. But you rescued me and you've helped me to care for this unborn child. I'm grateful to you for that."

"Well, you can continue being grateful over here in this bed, okay? Take a load off and let's get you balanced."

"Thank you, Grimmjow."

The Sexta Espada laid Tetsuya gently in the bed, then knelt alongside him and opened his clothing. He laid his hands on the noble's belly and let his reiatsu wrap around the developing cluster. Immediately, he sensed that something was different. He glanced at Tetsuya and noticed that a look of wonder had risen on the shinigami's expressive face.

"Grimmjow!" he exclaimed, taking one of the hollow's hands and squeezing it, "This...this is _sentience_! We can connect with our baby's soul!"

"Whoa, what?" Grimmjow mused, his mind spinning as he registered a sudden feeling of connection. The baby's reaitsu touched his tentatively and he felt a sweet jolt inside as the little spirit seemed to take hold of his heart and make it freeze for a moment.

Then, he realized.

_My heart's beating..._

_I have...I have..._

"Grimmjow?" Tetsuya queried softly, "Grimmjow, are you all right?"

The stunned Espada took Tetsuya's hand and laid it on his chest, then he watched as the shinigami's eyes widened in surprise.

"What is this? What's going on?" the Sexta Espada wonder aloud.

"I don't know," Tetsuya confessed, "I've never seen this before! But you...aren't hurt, right?"

He opened the front of Grimmjow's top and frowned as he encountered the still present hollow hole.

"Does this seem smaller to you?" Tetsuya asked curiously.

"I don't know," Grimmjow said unsteadily, "This is...really weird!"

"But you feel all right?"

"Yeah," Grimmjow assured him, "I feel fine. I don't hurt anywhere."

"Thank goodness for that. I think that when we move to the encampment, we must have Kisuke Urahara examine you."

"Oh, I don't think so," Grimmjow argued.

"Why not?" Tetsuya objected, "He might know something about why you have started to feel your heartbeat again."

"That guy is a wacko scientist with only a few more morals than that other science creep, Kurotsuchi!" Grimmjow exclaimed, "After I saved his ass, he pulled some weird science shit on me and practically broke my arm twisting it to get me to work with him!"

Tetsuya gave the angry hollow a knowing look.

"And yet, even once freed of his influence, you followed through on your agreement to come here and collect the information he asked for, ne Grimmjow?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"Hey, I'm not in this for you shinigamis and I don't actually care that much if a whole lot of hollows die. But that fucking bastard, Ywach, seems to want to destroy everything and kill everyone. He's a beast that needs to be put down, and I don't mind doing my part to stop him."

Tetsuya gave a very soft, amused chuckle.

"And I suppose there was absolutely nothing more Kisuke Urahara promised you to convince you?" he asked pointedly.

"Oh, he promised me something else," Grimmjow said, looking pleased with himself, "and it was not negotiable. I told that freak scientist that I wouldn't do shit unless it was on that condition."

"And that was?"

Grimmjow grinned widely.

"When this war is over, I get to kick the crap out of Kurosaki in a no holds barred sparring match."

"You...?"

"Kurosaki stepped on my pride," Grimmjow growled, his eyes glinting softly, "I don't take shit like that from anyone!"

Tetsuya consider his words for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and leaned back against his shoulder, exposing the soft, pale flesh along the side of his throat to the hollow's lusty mouth. Grimmjow gave another purring growl and attacked the area enthusiastically, reaching down to tease the noble's awakened arousal.

"You are a prideful creature, Grimmjow," he observed, his heart quickening as the Espada claimed his lips roughly and brought him down onto his back.

"What's wrong with that?" Grimmjow asked, narrowing his eyes, "Aren't you nobles all full of pride too?"

"S-some are and some aren't," Tetsuya managed, reeling as the sexual energy rose sharply between them, "Being too prideful when one is an outcast in the family, as I was...it was a sure way to get oneself killed."

Grimmjow paused, his warm breath bringing a deeper flush to the lovely, pale skin he had been devouring.

"Why were you an outcast?" he asked quietly, "I don't see or sense anything different about you. You're pretty, like them. You're powerful and you obviously have a respectable place among them now, so..."

"I was born of a noble man and a peasant woman," Tetsuya explained, "in a time when the penalty for doing so was the illegal incarceration and abuse of my family. We were taken to a secret prison, where my father was executed and my mother died of illness."

"So, what I saw...with you and that other boy..."

"Naoki was my cellmate. He taught me how to avoid attracting attention to myself so that I wouldn't take so much abuse. We became lovers, and he protected me as much as he could, although there were things he could not protect me from. One of them was my cousin, Orochi, who often called to have me sent to his room, where he sexually assaulted me and Naoki, while calling us horrid names and telling us what poor, worthless atrocities we were."

"And this guy is still breathing?" Grimmjow mused, his reiatsu flickering dangerously, "And what the hell? Didn't you tell me that you are Byakuya's bodyguard and head of house security? How's that?"

"When Byakuya was still a teen and heir to leadership, he learned of the prison and the horrors we were suffering there. He launched a raid on the prison and freed us."

Then, how did you get married to that other guy, Shiro? Didn't you say you and this kid were lovers? Where is he now?"

Tetsuya blinked slowly.

"Naoki fell protecting me during the raid. Someone, possibly Orochi, had leaked a warning to the ones at the prison and when our rescuers arrived, they began to slaughter prisoners and set fire to the prison, destroying important evidence about what had been happening there. In the end, the elders ruled that there wasn't enough proof to convict our tormentors. They could not accept the survivors' testimony alone, because we had incentive to lie to incriminate whoever we chose."

"That's bullshit."

"That is aristocratic thinking."

"Like I said..."

Grimmjow sighed and nuzzled Tetsuya's soft cheek.

"So, how'd you end up married to Shiro, then?" he asked, continuing to caress the noble's privates.

I was devastated after losing Naoki," Tetsuya explained, "I recovered slowly, both in heart and in body. Byakuya took me in at Kuchiki Manor and had an attendant assigned to help me cope with learning to fit into a noble family. At first, I was a savage and not in control of my own powers. But slowly, Koji and Byakuya were able to comfort and educate me. And last year, I was introduced to Shiro at a coming of age ball. He took an instant liking to me and requested permission from my cousin to court me. It same as a surprise to me. I didn't expect to be married, being a mixed blood. Although we were no longer persecuted, many still looked down on us...so to have a clan leader ask for my hand was quite shocking. Still, accepting was good for clan relations and I quickly grew fond of Shiro. He was very kind to me and his household was a pleasant place to live."

"But you weren't in love with him?"

"I suppose not at first," Tetsuya confessed, "I was flattered and we became close. I enjoyed being with him, whether we were being intimate with each other or not. And I am heartbroken losing him."

"Yeah, I noticed that. This, for a guy who was more a friend than a lover."

"Shiro was my lover too," Tetsuya said defensively, "Just because we weren't in love at first, doesn't mean that we didn't love each other when my husband died."

"Sorry, I suppose you're right. That's just not the way I live. My life's been a little like yours...only with no sunlight, cold desert and two maniacal sons of bitches trying to ruin my life...oh, and no lovers."

"What about that man I saw in your memory?" Tetsuya asked quietly, "Tesla? He wasn't a lover?"

"No," Grimmjow said dourly, "He was wrecked...and he didn't live long after his lover and tormentor died. He wasn't a survivor like you."

"Were you in love with him?"

"Why does that matter? He couldn't love me back and he just gave up on life and died," Grimmjow said in a softer tone, with less anger and in a more resigned inflection, "As I said, he wasn't like you...something I should've realized sooner."

"What do you mean?" Tetsuya asked, looking into the hollow's ice blue eyes.

"This..." the hollow breathed cryptically, positioning himself between Tetsuya's parted thighs and entering him slowly. He moved in deep, heavy thrusts that quickly stole Tetsuya's breath away and made his mind go hazy.

"My heart just started to beat and _usted està_ _robando mi corazòn_ (You are stealing my heart)."

"That is the language of the hollows," Tetsuya mused softly, "It means..."

"How do you know what it means?" Grimmjow asked, frowning, "What use do nobles have for our language?"

"Noble children are taught multiple languages to facilitate better communication between races."

Grimmjow smiled and intensified his thrusts, stealing Tetsuya's breath away and sending him careening into the throes of erotic bliss.

"I don't think we have a problem communicating," Grimmjow chuckled, nipping at the reeling noble's lips "We understand each other just fine."

"When we're not at each others' throats," Tetsuya added saucily.

Grimmjow smirked and snapped at his unprotected neck, bring a flush roaring back onto his skin.

"You have a pretty throat," he commented.

"Grimmjow..." Tetsuya sighed, the blush spreading onto his lovely, smiling face.


	6. The Litter

**Chapter 6: The Litter**

Grimmjow woke to the sound of soft whimpering and found Tetsuya curled up against his shoulder, his pale fingers clenching and his lovely face sweating and touched with intense discomfort. He wiggled free of the pregnant shinigami's arms and leaned over him, setting warm hands on Tetsuya's belly. He blinked in surprise, noticing that Tetsuya's belly seemed to have grown significantly, even since the night before.

"Wh-what the hell? Tetsuya, are you all right? Is this…are you out of balance or something? You're not going to explode, right?"

"N-no," Tetsuya panted, shivering under the Espada's hands, "I am not unwell, Grimmjow. I think…I think I am in labor!"

"What?" Grimmjow squawked, "Hey, you can't do that here! That's not part of the deal. The deal was that you were supposed to help me find the information for Urahara, and then, we were supposed to take you to your elders, and the information to him! There was nothing in the deal about me having to be your fucking midwife!"

His breath caught as he noticed that Tetsuya was smiling at him.

"What?" he snapped, "Don't be getting cute with me. I'm not doing this with you, okay? We're going to…"

"I am afraid we can't go anywhere," Tetsuya insisted, "Well, you can leave, if you wish, but this child is coming now."

Grimmjow looked from Tetsuya's sweaty face to his slightly glowing belly, and back again.

"I don't know anything about delivering shinigami babies!" he complained, "What do I do? Do I have to…like, reach inside you or something? Where the hell does the kid come out? Not outta your…"

"No," Tetsuya chuckled, biting his lips in amusement, "You see the glow around my abdomen, ne?"

"Yeah."

"The area above the spirit chamber is slowly losing cohesion."

"What does that mean?" the hollow asked, looking alarmed, "Is that bad?"

"No," Tetsuya laughed, wiping his forehead with a hand.

Grimmjow scowled and grabbed a washcloth that he dampened in cool water before returning to wash Tetsuya's face gently.

"It means that the cells are spreading out, pushing apart, so that the baby's reiatsu can come out of me."

"The reiatsu…"

"Yes," Tetsuya explained, "the baby stays in reiatsu form until it emerges out of my body, then it will thicken into the baby's body."

"Huh," Grimmjow huffed, looking at him uncertainly, "So, there's no pushing or bleeding or…"

"None," Tetsuya affirmed, his eyes softening, "It's actually much easier than a female's birth. It will be all right."

"You're reassuring me? You're the one whose stomach is opening up. Geez…"

"Place your hands here," Tetsuya said, taking the hollow's hands and guiding them to the edges of the opening, "As the reiatsu rises and emerges, lift it out and hold it."

"Lift it out and hold it," Grimmjow repeated, his uncertain voice a strange departure from his usually gruff one.

"Don't drop it."

"I won't drop it!" Grimmjow snapped, "Just you do your job and I'll do mine."

"Thank you, Grimmjow," Tetsuya said, touching the irascible hollow's hand, "I don't know what I would have done without you. No, I know I would not have survived."

"Don't go getting all mushy and sweet on me, _you_," Grimmjow snickered, rubbing Tetsuya's belly gently, "I'm not going to be enslaved by you."

"Not my wild, untamed hollow lover," Tetsuya laughed.

He winced and paled slightly as more pains radiated through his abdomen.

"You okay?" Grimmjow asked, squeezing his hand.

"I'm f-fine," Tetsuya panted, "The pains are normal. Everything f-feels all right. I do wish that there was s-someone here who knows about male noble pregnancy, b-but…"

"But I'll do," Grimmjow huffed with an edge of sarcasm, "Any port in a storm, right?"

"I suppose, but Grimmjow, I…really do appreciate you doing this."

"What am I gonna do? Leave you here to have the baby all by yourself?"

"You're going to have to leave me here after the baby comes," Tetsuya said, looking up into his eyes.

"What?" Grimmjow mused, frowning, "No way. I can't leave you and the little tyke alone. We'll just climb on that horse of yours and go to the evacuation site when you're done popping the kid out."

"Grimmjow!"

"Hang in there, okay?" Grimmjow encouraged him, "It looks like something's happening down here."

Tetsuya's breath caught and an edge or fear sparked in his blue eyes.

"The baby's r-reiatsu," he panted, "It's beginning to emerge!"

"I got this," Grimmjow assured him, "Just keep your breathing under control and I'll catch the baby."

Grimmjow's blue eyes widened as the glow around Tetsuya's belly intensified, and very slowly, a thick cluster of reiatsu began to rise out of the opening.

"Grimmjow!"

"I got it!"

The hollow's shaky hands wrapped around the little cluster, and he brought it to his chest, then moved to Tetsuya's side and held it in curled arms. The two men watched breathlessly as the golden light slowly faded, and the cluster resolved into a little pink body with large, sapphire eyes and a wild shock of blue hair.

"Look at that!" Grimmjow laughed.

"He looks like you," Tetsuya said, smiling widely as the Espada laid the baby in his arms.

"But he looks and smells sweet, like you," the hollow purred.

"He has Shiro's face and ears."

"Gotta admit, he's pretty damned cute," Grimmjow said, grinning.

He made a sudden sound of surprise as a little throbbing sensation touched his midsection, and he looked down to find that his hollow hole had gotten smaller. He put a hand to his chest and registered the harder beating of his heart that had begun to return.

"Are you all right?" Tetsuya asked anxiously.

"Y-yeah," the Espada answered, staring down at himself, "It's just that the hole keeps getting smaller. It just got smaller as the baby was…"

He broke off as fresh waves of golden light erupted from Tetsuya's still bared abdomen, and a second brilliant reiatsu began to emerge.

"What?" Grimmjow yelped, "I thought there was just one!"

"I did too!" Tetsuya exclaimed, "Quickly, catch it, Grimmjow!"

"I'm getting it,"

Grimmjow's hands wrapped around the emerging bundle, and he lifted it carefully, his blue eyes watching closely as it began to change. As the light faded, the cluster thickened into a second little pink body, this one with raven colored hair and ice blue eyes.

"Whaddya know!" Grimmjow laughed, "This one's a girl."

Tetsuya's face lit beautifully.

"She's lovely!"

"Look at those curls," Grimmow exclaimed, teasing a little swirl of her hair.

"Um…" Tetsuya panted, wiping the back of one hand over his sweating forehead, "Grimmjow?"

"Huh?" the hollow grunted, tickling their daughter under the chin, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong exactly, but I feel…"

Grimmjow looked down at Tetsuya's still glowing belly, and his jaw dropped.

"What? Another one? You've gotta be fucking KIDDING ME! We can't carry three kits back to…"

"Erm, I think that is two reiatsu clusters emerging together," Tetsuya managed, his chest heaving, "I feel…d-dizzy!"

"Don't drop the baby!" Grimmjow yelled, scrambling across the bed and grabbing a clean towel that he used to swaddle the baby girl he held.

He laid the baby girl carefully on the bed.

"Give me the boy," he said brusquely.

"Hurry, Grimmjow!" Tetsuya said in a panicked tone, "The other two are almost out!"

"Hey, I've only got two damned hands, here!" the Espada complained, rushing to wrap the baby boy he held.

He laid the boy next to his cooing sister and reached Tetsuya's side just in time to capture the next two reiatsu clusters that broke free.

"How goddamned many more of these are you planning on having?" Grimmjow complained, "You've got a fucking litter, here!"

Tetsuya's eyes widened, and his breath caught as he watched Grimmjow swaddle the next two babies, one boy and one girl.

"What?" Grimmjow growled, "You know why this is happening?"

"W-well, it is just a thought, but…when we made love before, you took on your resurreccìon form, Pantera, ne?"

"Yeah," Grimmjow growled, glaring, "What of it?"

"Pantera is a wildcat."

"You bet your sweet ass he is," Grimmjow said proudly.

"Cats have litters," Tetsuya said pointedly.

Grimmjow stared at Tetsuya in silence for a moment, then he scowled.

"Oh, I see, so now this is my fault, is it?" he shouted, making the four babies squeal and start crying.

"Grimmjow, you've made the babies cry," Tetsuya scolded him.

"I feel like crying," the hollow groaned, "Is that _another one_ coming out of you?"

"N-no," Tetsuya panted, blanching, "G-grimmjow, it's…"

"Fuck me!" the Espada whispered, staring in dismay as three more reiatsu clusters emerged.

Tetsuya whimpered softly in distressed, and his eyes closed.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Grimmjow called sternly, "No going to sleep on the job. I need your help here, Tetsuya!"

He grabbed each cluster as it freed itself and swaddled them carefully. Then, he returned to Tetsuya's side, bending over him to check for his breathing and pulse.

"C'mon here, Tetsuya," he breathed anxiously, patting the young man's face, "Don't leave me here alone with…"

He glared at the scattering of wiggling babies on the other side of the bed.

"How many are there? _Seven_? Don't freaking leave me with seven damned kits to take care of. I'm not exactly the fatherly type! C'mon, wake up, okay? You know what to do with these things. I've got no idea! Tetsuya! Oh, thank kami, you're breathing…Keep doing that all right? I'll just…"

He shook his head, gazing at their seven gurgling offspring.

"Well," he chuckled, shaking his head, "I guess that Aomori clan isn't dead after all."

He chuckled and rubbed his now growling stomach.

"Man, I'm starved. That was a lotta work."

Grimmjow paused, frowning, then he looked down at his abdomen, his blue eyes widening as he saw the healed place where his hollow hole had been.

"I'll be…"

He stiffened as a loud cracking sound split the air, and his mask broke apart and disintegrated completely.

"What the ever-loving hell?" he breathed, watching the pieces shimmer and fade, "What…? I'm…?"

He left the bed and walked to the full length mirror in the dressing area, not noticing that Tetsuya's eyes had opened, and were struggling to focus on him.

"Grimmjow!" the shinigami exclaimed breathlessly, "Grimmjow, your hollow hole is gone!"

"Yeah, I noticed that," the Espada said in a shocked, disbelieving tone, "Does this mean, I'm…a shinigami?"

"That is what it looks like," Tetsuya affirmed.

Grimmjow stared in fascination, touching where his mask had been with tentative fingertips.

"I'm not gonna lose my memory, am I?" he wondered aloud, "That's what happens when a shinigami…"

"I didn't kill you with my blade," Tetsuya assured him.

"No, you fucking killed me with sex, that's what you did," the former hollow accused him, "What kinda weird shit was that?"

"I didn't do anything," Tetsuya objected, "It must have begun when you had sex with me to bond us, so that you could help stabilize me. Perhaps the forces in our bodies also aligned. I don't feel exactly the same, either. But, we will have to leave this for now and simply ask Urahara-san to help us figure it out. We need to get the babies to the encampment."

"What? Why?" Grimmjow asked, "We can't risk moving them. Tetsuya, it's too dangerous out there. We need to keep them in here."

"It is safer here," Tetsuya acknowledged, "but our provisions will not last forever. And also, there is the information you have gathered for Urahara-san. That has to be taken to him. That information is critical."

"I'll take it to him."

"No," Tetsuya said, rubbing his chin, "We should send that, and a note requesting evacuation for ourselves and the babies, with Arashi."

"But…!"

"These children are the last surviving members of the Aomori clan," Tetsuya reminded him, "We cannot allow harm to come to them. Grimmjow, you and I are now guardians of a nearly lost clan! We must protect these children, our children, at all costs!"

"Wait a second!" Grimmjow complained, "I didn't sign on for baby duty, here. I didn't ask for any of this, and you said that you…"

Tetsuya stopped him with a hard, angry look.

"Yes," he agreed, "I did tell you that I would not object to you leaving me when the time came. I suppose that I can't stop you, then."

"I'm not going to abandon you and our seven kids here," Grimmjow growled, "As unexpected as all of this is, I'm no deadbeat dad. These kids have my blood in'em, I'm going to protect them, and you."

"I don't need your help," Tetsuya insisted, "I have Arashi."

"That horse can't feed and care for these little slobbering monsters if you get hurt or sick," Grimmjow pointed out, "You need me for that. I'll stay here and we'll send the horse, like you suggested."

"And then, what?" Tetsuya asked, looking him in the eyes, "At what point will you be leaving us? Only when we're safe in the encampment? Ywach is still out there, and he wants us all dead!"

"Then, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you or the babies," Grimmjow promised, "Look, just because I don't want to have to deal with all of the noble family crap doesn't mean that I'll just leave you to your devices here. I want you and the kits to be safe. I'll still do what I need to do for Urahara, but I'm not going to do that at the expense of our family. We…"

He paused, staring as tears came to Tetsuya's blue eyes.

"What?" he mused, "What now? Tetsuya, you promised you wouldn't get all weepy on me."

"Sorry," Tetsuya apologized, rubbing his eyes, "It's just…since my parents died, I haven't had my own family."

"I thought you were close to Byakuya."

Tetsuya let out a long sigh.

"Byakuya gave me a home," the blue-eyed man said softly, "but it was Shiro, and then you, Grimmjow, who gave me a true family. Thank you."


End file.
